IPL 2023: Royal Challengers Bangalore to continue green initiative and wear unique jersey in clash against Rajasthan Royals

On Sunday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are gearing up to demonstrate their dedication to green initiatives by playing the “Green Game” in this year’s IPL. This event was initiated in 2011, and since then, RCB has allocated one of their home matches to raise awareness for the ‘Go Green’ campaign, aiming to encourage a cleaner and greener environment.

RCB to wear recycled jerseys

For the highly-anticipated match on Sunday, RCB players will wear recycled green jerseys. These jerseys are made from recycled waste collected from the stadium. It's intriguing to ponder the type of recycled waste required to create these jerseys. The season opener match alone generated 9047.6 kg of waste in the stadium, with as many as 19488 water bottles used.

On average, eight tons of dry waste, food waste, and other recyclable waste are generated after every match at the stadium. Implementation of waste segregation practices has enabled the collection and separation of dry, food, and non-recyclable waste to be completely processed further to recycle and create sustainable goods such as shirts.

RCB vouch for sustainability

RCB has partnered with Good Era, the implementation partner for the Go Green Initiative. Together, they have developed the Green Army, a unique sustainability group that helps keep the stadium premises clean.

“RCB is the world’s first carbon-neutral cricket team and the foremost cricket franchise in the world, rallying behind a people-driven movement for greener planet. “Go Green” is not just an initiative for us but an aspiring movement to seek behavioral changes, contributing to solving various challenges related to climate change. It transcends beyond cricket and connects fans at a much deeper level, an engagement with a purpose,” said Rajesh Menon, VP & Head of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Restoration of lakes

This year’s mission will also see RCB restore two lakes in South Bengaluru covering 44 acres, and close to 200 schools will see the Green School certification roll out.

“As part of our year-long commitment, we will enable and encourage sustainability for the people, of the people, and by the people through a unique fan-driven model of carbon neutrality and rejuvenating and restoring the city lakes, which were once the pride of Bangalore city. We also feel we need to begin early in life to start living consciously, and therefore Green School is an initiative to involve future generations to be a part of the movement,” Menon added.